image/svg+xml
139
XI/2/2020
INTERDISCIPLINARIA ARCHAEOLOGICA
NATURAL SCIENCES IN ARCHAEOLOGY
homepage: http://www.iansa.eu
Geophysical Investigations of the Bronze Age Andreevskoye Settlement in
the Southern Trans-Urals (Russia)
Vladislav Noskevich
a*
, Natalia Fedorova
a
a
Institute of Geophysics Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Amundsen Street 100, 620049 Yekaterinburg, Russia
1. Introduction
At the end of the 20
th
century, vast settlements attributed to
the Bronze Age (21
st
–18
th
century BC) were discovered in
Russia, in the steppe zone of the Southern Urals (Figure 1)
(Gening
et al.
, 1992). The earliest stage of the investigation
was related to the decoding of aerial photos that allowed the
specialists to discover and identify the majority of Sintashta –
Arkaim – type settlements (Zdanovich and Batanina, 2007).
The Sintashta settlements are typical by enclosed systems of
fortifcation in contrast to other steppe Eurasian Bronze Age
sites. The internal space has a very structured organization
and it is almost entirely occupied by standard buildings that
are organized into regular blocks. The total area of individual
settlements ranges from 0.8 to 3.5 ha. The architecture of
the settlements is almost completely destroyed; the earth
walls of fortifcations, ditches and housing depressions have
been ploughed up. In modern times, the leading role played
by geophysical research has directed investigations to the
detection of the inner structure of sites.
Geophysical methods have been applied in archaeology
for more than half a century. Resistivity methods and
magnetometry have been applied in Europe since the 1950s
(Atkinson, 1952; Aitken, 1974). Electromagnetic profling
and GPR surveying were introduced into archaeology in the
1980s–1990s (Dalan, 1991; Dabas
et al.
, 2000). Signifcant
advances in the study of various archaeological sites have been
achieved using geophysical methods (Gafney
et al.
, 2002,
Epov
et al.
, 2016). Magnetic gradient surveys (Fassbinder,
2019), electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) (Tsokas
et al.
,
2008) and ground penetrating radar (GPR) (Conyers, 2016)
constitute the most informative geophysical methods for
conducting archaeological research. In Siberia, the magnetic
gradient method developed by German geophysicists has been
successfully applied at the Chicha settlement (Late Bronze
Age) which covers an area 400×200 m (8 ha) (Becker and
Fassbinder, 1999; Molodin
et al.
, 2002).
Geophysical studies of several Sintashta fortifed
settlements (Arkaim, Kamennyi Ambar, Konoplynka,
Volume XI ● Issue 2/2020 ● Pages 139–147
*Corresponding author. E-mail:
ubistu@gmail.com
ARTICLE INFO
Article history:
Received: 23
rd
March 2020
Accepted: 19
th
October 2020
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.24916/iansa.2020.2.1
Key words:
magnetic survey
ground penetrating radar
Bronze Age
archaeological site
South Urals
Russia
ABSTRACT
The settlements and cemeteries of the Sintashta – type (21
st
–18
th
century BC) are concentrated in
the southern Trans-Urals steppe. The earliest stage of investigations was related to the decoding of
aerial photos that allowed specialists to discover and identify the majority of the settlements. This
report presents the results of a geophysical investigation at the Andreevskoye settlement, where
we conducted micro-magnetic and ground penetrating radar (GPR) surveys. Magnetic studies have
provided new information on the structure of the fortifcations and the number and location of
houses in the settlements during their occupancy, as well as on the many wells discovered inside the
houses. Drawing on our data, a new plan of the settlement was produced, more accurate than the one
prepared solely from interpretations of aerial photographs. The settlement consists of multiple layers
and is characterized by a complex confguration formed from three rectangular systems of defensive
structures. We obtained GPR deep sections along three profles, indicating the ditches and dwellings of
the ancient settlement under sediments and the ruins of walls. Based on these data, we conclude that
the depth from the modern surface of the earth to the occupation layer in the dwellings of the ancient
settlement is approximately 50–70 cm. Our results provide archaeologists with reliable data that are
necessary for the selection of excavation sites.
image/svg+xml
IANSA 2020 ● XI/2 ● 139–147
Vladislav Noskevich, Natalia Fedorova: Geophysical Investigations of the Bronze Age Andreevskoye Settlement in the Southern Trans-Urals (Russia)
140
Ustye, Sarym-Sakly, Ulak,
etc.
) have been carried out
(Tibelius, 1995; Merrony
et al.
, 2009; Noskevich
et al.
,
2012; Patzelt, 2013; Hanks
et al
, 2013; Fedorova
et al.
,
2014; Bakhshiev
et al.
, 2018). Geomagnetic prospection
has been efective in the investigation of fortifcations
and interiors due to a great variety of soils with magnetic
properties higher than the surrounding ground. Magnetic
anomalies reveal the exact position of outer defensive walls
and ditches, the layout of buildings inside the settlements,
and the existence of wells, household pits and ovens. The
maps of magnetic anomalies indicate sites for further, more-
detailed, study using archaeological and other geophysical
methods, thus signifcantly reducing the risk of conducting
blind excavations. GPR surveying allows the structure of
fortifcations to be determined, as well as the depth of ditches
and wells to be inferred (Noskevich
et al.
, 2012; Epimakhov
et al.
, 2016).
As a part of the continuing geophysical research on the
Sintashta-Arkaim settlements, this article presents our latest
results regarding the Andreevskoye site. The micro-magnetic
gradient survey covered the whole territory of the settlement
(200×240 m), while the GPR survey was conducted in
several sections of the fortifcations.
2. Brief description of the Andreevskoye settlement
The ruins of the Andreevskoye fortifed settlement attributed
to the Bronze Age are located on the left bank of the
Sintashta River (7.7 km southeast of the Andreevsky village,
Chelyabinsk region, Russia). The modern riverbed, together
with the ancient one, form a peninsula (Figure 2a).
The site is located on the very edge of the foodplain
terrace, on the bank of the ancient riverbed of the Sintashta
River. No full-scale archaeological excavations have been
carried out at this site. Small exploration works had been
carried out in two pits in the northern and southern parts of
the settlement (Tairov
et al.
, 1995). Fragments of ceramics
presumably belonging to the Sintashta culture (21
st
–18
th
centuries BC) were found. In similar settlements (Kamennyi
Ambar, Bersaut,
etc.
), radiocarbon analysis confrms these
dates (Epimakhov, Krause, 2013). The total dating interval
for Sintashta constitutes the period 2010–1770 BC. (Molodin
et al.
, 2014).
The ruins of the defensive ditches and walls outline
the borders of the site. The settlement has multiple layers
and is characterised by a complex confguration, which is
formed by three rectangular systems of defensive structures